Somewhere Out There
by Dimensional Traveller
Summary: Based off Basta's Pride and Joy, It's been a month since Joy has lived in the village with Basta as her husband. After a long day of heart ache again she finally makes a decision to stop feeling sorry for herself, grin and bare it, and one day escape.


_**Disclaimer: I do not own Inkheart or any of it's characters. I do own Joy, stephen, and their mom. I do not own the song, it's called Somewhere Out There from "An American Tale."**_

_**Somewhere out there  
Beneath the pale moonlight  
Someone's thinking of me  
And loving me tonight...**_

Twenty one year old Joy held a clean suit that was freshly washed, dried, and folded in her arms as she walked through the village back to her and Basta's house. In a month she had quickly learned her way around the village, all it's twists and turns, stair cases that led up to cat walks that led to houses and the remains of old shops. Her dark brown eyes were focused forward, her mouth straight and closed, the village didn't give a person much to smile about.

She paused and looked up as the sun was starting to set, she bit her lip as she tried hard not to think of home. Her heart ached for her mother and for Stephen, instead she was forced to shove the pain back as she caught sight of her new home in front of her. Basta loved it when she cried, it turned him into a larger monster, he added to the pain with quips about things he had noticed about her mother and brother.

She paused at the corner of a street and walked off to the side and turned her face towards the wall to hide her tears that were threatning to fall again from a small group of black jackets were walking past. Her fingers folded and squeezed Basta's suit hard, she remembered how her mother would always tell her that as long as their was a moon, and a night sky, there would always be someone thinking of her and loving her. She hoped her mother could feel the love Joy had for her and Stephen.

After she had managed to get herself under control she stood out and faced the breeze for a few minutes to dry off her face to hide any evidence of tears that may have fallen. Taking a deep and shaky breath she continued walking towards her home memories of what she was coming back to kept shoving their way inside her mind.

Basta was a short man with a wiry figure and boy like frame. His face was narrow, his eyes were close together and his eye's irises were brown. His nose was long and curved softly instead of being sharp at the tip. He had short dark brown hair that he only paid attention too before going near Capricorn, or before he wanted some pleasure time with Joy. He always wore a black suit with a white button down shirt beneath it, in his button hole of his suit he wore a blood red rose that was a sign of danger instead of beauty.

When she reached the door she paused, then slowly twisted the knob and pushed it open, her stomach curled, was he in there waiting for her? She walked in slowly, knowing better than to call out his name, instead she opened one of the dresser's only working drawers and put Basta's clean suit in beside her own spare dress-suit. She walked through every room of the small home and was relieved when she found no Basta. She knew he could come back at any time though, she dusted and cleaned up the house that barely held anything in it real quickly before sitting down on the bed. She pulled a loose brick out of the wall and took out a book that Dustfinger had smuggled into the village for her. It was a book about Christmas angels.

_**Somewhere out there  
Someone's saying a prayer  
That we'll find one another  
In that big somewhere out there...**_

Joy kept her ear out for Basta as she read, glancing up and out the broken glass window to see if any black jackets were passing, each time they passed she'd quickly hide the book under the covers and make it seem like she was writing a poem praising Capricorn. (Which she had been ordered to do by Basta when she had free time, which wasn't often.) She went back to reading and paused when she heard it.

"We burned tha' one good, we did!" Flatnose's nasal voice laughed through the night's darkness.

"You could've burned the damned shed too!" Basta's hissing voice growled.

"Oy, we coulda, but we wanted y'to do tha!" Cockerell's gruff voice snickered, "but wait, I forgot, yer afraid a'fire!"

"Shut up, or I'll cut yer tounges out!" Basta's voice hissed.

Joy quickly removed the brick and dog eared the page of her book then shoved the book into the small hole and shoved the brick back in. She grabbed onto the pen and small notepad and quickly started writing once more. Her shoulders tensed when she heard the front door open and three pairs of feet walking in, she quickly stood and brushed off any wrinkles from her skirt and held a small breath her heart pounding in terror.

Cockerell smirked as he walked in first, "well, I see yer gettin' more obediant by the day," he smiled, "I still say ye shoulda been mine."

"She's mine," Basta growled, as he walked over to Joy he grabbed her and held her close to him before forcing into her a long and hard kiss. "Did you get my suit clean?" He questioned after peeling away from the kiss.

"It's in the dresser drawer beside mine," Joy replied softly, in her head a small voice chanted, please don't hit me, please don't hit me I didn't do anything wrong. She quickly shoved it out, she was terrified as it was and felt that she was doing a good job hiding her fear. Basta and all black jackets loved the smell of fear and would only feed it for their own enjoyment.

"Good," Basta replied, "we brought back dinner," he growled, "you didn't eat without me did you?"

"No," Joy replied honestly.

Flatnose took out three plastic bags and put them down on the bed, the sound warmed Joy's heart. When her family would travel around in hotels her father would always get take out, she still remembered the sound of the crinkling plastic bags when he set them down on the beds, he would turn and smile and exclaim, 'whoever wins the arm wrestler gets the extra piece of garlic bread!' When they ate itlian food.

Flatnose started taking out the styrofoam containers and handed them out, he handed one to Joy.

"Thank you," Joy replied, sitting beside Basta as she opened it. She wanted to cry, it was the nicest thing Basta had done for her, inside was a warm turkey sandwich and french fries. Her favorite meal. "Basta..."

"I ordered," he replied.

"Thank you," Joy said softly, "I..."

"If you want to thank me," Basta growled, "thank me tonight in bed."

Joy's face turned beat red and quickly turned back to her food, she heard Cockerell and Flatnose's snickers, her face glew even more.

"Yer a cute 'un," Flatnose commented, "ye know, all we hear now days from Basta's lips is yer name. All the way to collectin' money an' ta burnin' tha' house he kept speakin of ye."

Joy glanced at Basta, not wanting to embaress him. Basta's eyes were glaring at flatnose with ice cold anger. Joy started eating her sandwich and jumped when Flatnose sat beside her and started biting into his hamburger. The four ate in silence, when dinner was over Basta, Cockerell, and Flatnose went into another room to talk.

"Basta, what do you want me to do?" Joy asked before he left the room.

Basta paused and glared at her, "get in yer nightgown and get to sleep, I'll wake you up when I'm good and ready." He snapped at the other two when they started laughing and making fun of him again.

Joy grabbed her nightgown and stepped into the bathroom, she shut the door and quickly changed, she folded her dress suit and put it back into the dresser. She crawled into bed, said a quick prayer asking God and his angels to watch over her and her family and keep them all safe.

_**And even though I know  
How very far apart we are  
It helps to think we might be wishing  
On the same bright star...**_

_"You know when you were little your favorite thing to do was play dress up. You'd always drag your father to you and Queen Teddy Bear's Tea Party?" She laughed._

_Joy laughed in her dream, it seemed so real. The cottage, the kitchen table they sat in chairs around, the Monopoly board spread out, Stephen threw the dice and moved his piece, which was the money bag, nine spaces. _

_"Aw, man! I'm in jail!" He whined._

_"Well, you did forget to do the dishes," their mother quipped, for a second she sounded so much like Mortola that it gave Joy the shivers. But when her mother's kind and loving face looked at her any sign of the old Magpie was gone. _

_"Mom, I love you and I miss you and Stephen so, so much." _

_"Sweetie, why do you miss us? We're right here, you're here with us every day," her mother smiled, she reached over and gave her hand a gentle squeeze, "we're right here."_

_"Yeah, where'd ya think you were?" Stephen asked as he looked at their mom, obviously wanting her to take her turn, "Timbucktoo?"_

_"I...I'm in the old village a few miles away from here, Basta...He's a monster-"_

_"Oh now," her mother scolded softly, "Joy, you're here, living here, with us, there is no Basta. Each morning you keep talking about this man and how cruel he is and how I cried against the door frame when he took you. Sweetie, listen to me, noone took you, you're here, safe with me, always. This Basta figure must be a personal nightmare, maybe he's a mix of old bullies back from high school and...your father's death..." she said softly, her eyes growing sad for a moment._

_"He's real mom, and...And..."_

_"Joy, c'mon! Take yer turn!" Stephen exclaimed, pushing the dice over to her._

_Joy sighed and jiggled the dice in her hand, why did she ever try? Her dream family never believed her anyway. She let the dice fall onto the board and role some, ten. She moved the car ten spaces and landed on a chance card, she took the card and her throat tightened on her in horror as she read it: __**Can't Get Away That Easily! **_

_A moment later the front door burst open, the black jackets rushed inside, Stephen got up and shouted at the men to go away, her mother grabbed at her father's pistol. Joy scramled and rolled again, she had gotten doubles, she could change the course of this dream! She could! She moved another few spaces and landed on Community Chest and grabbed the card: __**Get out of Village Free**_

_"Basta, look!" Joy shouted, but he simply grabbed the card, tore it up, grabbed, threw her over his shoulder and left with the other black jackets. The day quickly reverted into night in a few seconds and Joy's last memories of home with her mother screaming for her out the front door haunted her._

"NO! MOM!" Joy shrieked as she sat up, tears leaked down her cheeks as her heart gave another pained ache. She couldn't hold it in anymore, she curled up into a small ball and cried.

_**And when the night wind  
Starts to sing a lonesome lullaby  
It helps to think we're sleeping  
Underneath the same big sky...**_

Joy quietly sobbed, her shoulders shook, why couldn't the dreams leave her alone? Why couldn't she just have one good dream about being with her family?

"Is she cryin'?" Cockerell's voice asked.

Joy quickly forced herself to stop and to calm down she closed her eyes and breathed slowly.

She could hear soft foot steps, that were so soft she could barely hear them, she felt a cool breath on her cheek, followed by the scent of mint. Basta she knew.

"In her sleep," Basta's voice softly hiss, "she always cries in her sleep. She'll get over it."

She listened as he walked back to the other room and shut the door again. She wiped the tears from her eyes and sat up and hugged her knees. She paused as she listened to the breeze softly blowing through the village and skittering loose leaves around. The night wind's lullaby calmed her down and calmed her aching heart. She was asleep again in minutes.

_**Somewhere out there  
If love can see us through  
Then we'll be together  
Somewhere out there  
Out where dreams come true...**_

"Joy, wake up," Basta hissed, Joy's eyes snapped open it was so dark she couldn't see anything. She tensed and let her eyes get used to the dark before turning over.

"Are you ready for me-"

"No," Basta replied, "it's just that," he said softly, "I think I need to be a little easier on you. You're obedient now, I'll let you wander the village at your free will without any black jackets following you, but you must never escape nor try to leave."

"I promise, I will never try," Joy said softly. She froze when Basta's arm wrapped around her and hugged her close to him.

"Not a word about to this anyone," Basta growled.

Joy smiled and actually found herself curling into him, he hadn't hit her in the last few days, and for some reason her heart...Swelled with happiness when he hugged her. Was she falling in love with him? She wrapped her arms around him and layed her head on his chest she listened to his heart beat and wondered if he remembered his parents. She dared not to ask though, nothing to disturb the happiness that a normal couple shared. In back of her head a small voice said to her, 'you're falling in love with him.' To which she replied back to it silently, 'I think I am.'

She paused and remembered that old song her mother used to sing her, Somewhere Out There, and sang it to herself in her head over and over again, feeling better. She could do this, no more oh poor me, no more tears, she had to get used to this. Beside, Dustfinger had friends outside the village, maybe, just maybe she'd run into them one day, she'd have to brave enough to tell them where the village was and what it was like, and how to rescue all the girls and boys that were runaways or that had been kidnapped...They were depending on her...It was time to grow up and make a shell around herself, just grin and bare it. She'd be able to help others get out of the village one day...She knew it...Something in her promised that to her...She fell back to sleep minutes later. 


End file.
